Korea Patent Application No. 10-1998-0046799 discloses a hinge mechanism of a portable phone as an example of a cover hinge mechanism of a portable phone.
The hinge mechanism of the portable phone including the hinge mechanism according to the above-mentioned application is used for rotating a cover against a body.
Such hinge mechanism can hold the cover in open or closure elastically.
Meanwhile, the cover typically has a liquid crystal display at a side thereof contacting with a face of the body. In the state of closing the cover, the liquid crystal display comes in close contact with the face of the body, resulting in that a user can watch a screen of the liquid crystal display. Thus, the liquid crystal display of the cover always is set in order to automatically turn off when the user do not put in call to someone, while only turning on when the cover opens.
Since the hinge mechanism of the general portable phone performs such that the cover is opened and closed against the body of portable phone, however, there is a problem in that the user can watch the liquid crystal display when the cover is closed.
On the other hand, the liquid crystal display can be installed on both sides of the cover, but it causes a cost of manufactusealing the portable phone to increase. Furthermore, since the liquid crystal display on an outer side of the cover is always exposed to an outer environment, there is another problem in that the liquid crystal display can be easily destroyed.
Recently, a portable phone having a camera for image communication has been developed as the portable phone including lots of additional functions has been demanded. In such portable phone, the camera is embedded in the body or one of both sides of the cover, or detachably mountained at the hinge mechanism of the portable phone.
With the above-described portable phone, the camera is always directed to the user to take a picture of user's face and then transmits the picture to someone.
Accordingly, where the user wish take a picture of the body but the his/her face, the body of portable phone or the cover which is rotatably installed to the body of the portable phone must be directed to the user's body to take the picture of the his/her body. As the result, since the user cannot watch the liquid crystal display anymore, there is another problem in that the user cannot identify whether the camera normally takes the picture of his/her body.